Carrie’s Second Design Dilemma: Solved

Last year John’s younger sister Carrie moved to Philly for work and found herself living in a cute high-rise apartment in need of a bit of cheap sprucing. So in under $200 we skipped through Ikea, got art and accessories to transform her space, and made over her apartment in an afternoon (here’s that story). Well, a year later she’s been transferred back to Northern Virginia (closer to the fam- hurrah!) but has found herself once again in a plain jane room in need of some serious spiffing. So we took on the help-Carrie-makeover-her-room-on-the-cheap challenge again in this doozie of a sunroom turned bedroom:

Yes, the room is almost entirely surrounded by glass- from the sliding doors that make her bedroom reminiscent of a fishbowl (let’s watch Carrie sleep… creepy) to the five- yes five!- floor to ceiling windows that create the irregularly shaped five-sided back wall. But we weren’t scared. Ok, well maybe a little. But thanks to our trusty $200 budget and another trip to Ikea, we had high hopes for this space. So off we went to our favorite Swedish furniture store for curtains, more curtains, a few accessories and some furniture to adapt with some cheap Home Depot supplies that we picked up on the way. Four hours later, the room looked like this:

Cay you believe that’s the same space? Here’s how it all went down. First and foremost we wanted to work with what Carrie already had to keep her precious pennies in her pocket. So as you can see from last year’s apartment makeover, she already had two black Lack side tables, some colorful pillows, and those textured striped curtains to work with. The only issue is that the black tables were formerly sofa side tables, and were wayyy too low for her bed (see before photo) so we brainstormed an alternate plan to use them to create something else that we needed in the space to save money and keep them from going to waste. Can you find them in the after picture above?

If you were wiley enough to guess that the black Lack tables from Ikea became the headboard, feel free to reward yourself with a celebratory donut. Yup, we were driving to Ikea with our new catalog in hand when I wondered aloud how wide those tables were. Turns out that three of them are almost the exact width of her bed, so we snagged one more (in a rich wood tone for interest) and did the happy dance at the “new lower price” of $7.99.

Then all we needed were a few dollars worth of metal brackets from Home Depot and a long 2 x 4 (which we had cut at HD into three 26″ pieces). The assembly process was simple. Step 1: unscrew the legs and turn all the tabletops upside-down and line them up with the brown square in the middle:

Step 2: Use strong metal brackets to connect each tabletop to the one next to it in at least two places (tip: don’t get decorative hardware- be sure it’s heavy duty enough to do the job). Oh and drilling a 55″ 1 x 3 across the back of your headboard will add even more durability and reinforcement so that’s extra credit (not shown below).

Step 3: Flip everything over to admire your handiwork (seriously guys, anyone can do this- we didn’t even use a power drill to assemble ours, I just used a regular old manual screwdriver and some elbow grease).

Step 4: Use three (or six for even more reinforcement) right angled L-brackets to connect the headboard legs (our three 26″ 2 x 4 pieces that we had pre-cut at Home Depot) to the newly-joined squares that make up the headboard:

And voila- a DIY headboard that we created for under $20 using a few things that Carrie already had laying around:

The headboard was actually more for function than form since the glass walls where the head of Carrie’s bed was resting come together to create an irregular angle that was causing Carrie’s pillows to get wedged between the bed and the window (and she kept waking up with her face in those vertical blinds). But thanks to the new made-it-ourselves solution, that pillow problem is a thing of the past.

But on to the biggest decorating road block we have ever encountered to date (truly- we were stumped for hours). We all agreed that Carrie needed some soft billowy curtains in front of those less-than-lovely vertical blinds (which she could not remove- no ifs, ands or buts) so we snagged a bunch of panels and rods and even a wire pulley system at Ikea in the hopes of turning a wall of vertical blinds into a soft and inviting cocoon of a bedroom. The unforeseen issues? We knew that we couldn’t hang the curtains from the “back wall” since it’s literally made up of five floor to ceiling glass windows (or use the track of the vertical blinds to hang the curtains since it wouldn’t accommodate any modifications of the sort) BUT we never anticipated that we couldn’t hang our curtains from the ceiling! Nope, we failed to anticipate that the ceiling would be a rock solid concrete-esque material that was literally impervious to screws, nails, and even our heavy-duty power drill. It could possibly have been made out of diamonds, it was that impenetrable.

So there went our wall of curtains idea. Right out those floor to ceiling windows. We did realize that we could “hang” one striped curtain panel behind the bed across the vertical blinds (we physically clipped it to the top of each blind to hold it up) creating the soft stripey fabric panel above the headboard. But once the curtain was clipped (with little Ikea curtain-hanging clips, btw) the blinds were no longer able to be opened or closed. So because Carrie doesn’t mind losing the ability to see out of the window behind her bed she was fine with us clipping the curtain to the vertical blinds… but for the rest of the windows in the room, we had to leave the verticals as-is to allow her to open and slide them on a daily basis (and again, the management would not let us remove the verticals- and they would see from the outside of the building if we had gone that route).

Long story short: Carrie has since called her building’s superintendent and asked two other renters how to hang curtains in the sunroom and no one has found a way! We’re still brainstorming though, so you can bet that if we think of something we’ll be there in a flash adding soft white curtain panels in front of those verticals to frame out the textured striped ones above the bed. Someday…

You’ll also notice that we brought in new side tables (conveniently shaped like rounded triangles, so they slip right into the triangular shaped space on each side of the bed). And at just $29 each we were psyched about our glass-topped Ikea finds. We also snagged some hanging lamps, which we knew would make the space. When you’re dealing with a small room, anything you can do to create drama and get things off of the few surfaces that you have for display/storage is always a . So don’t forget about plug in pendants or even sconces! At $12.99 each, these lights were totally within our budget. Huzzah. But how could we hang them from those bullet-proof ceilings? After approximately ten minutes of woe-is-me whining, we ran to CVS with our fingers crossed and returned with heavy-duty 3M wall hooks that we stuck to the ceiling to swag our little green shades. Success! Then we just plugged them in and we were in business.

We also used Carrie’s existing items (the pillows from her old apartment, her fun blue throw, the colorful books on her side table) to decorate her little jewel box of a room. And we snagged one more pillow (the goldy-green one) from Ikea for just $7.99. We love how it ties the green shades and the green stripes in the curtains into the red and blue pillows and accessories that we integrated. We also grabbed her existing red canvas art and leaned it against the wall behind her childhood dressers (snagged from home for free) for another fun pop of color that every no-painting-the-walls rental needs:

But what about the sliders that lead into the room? You know, the ones that give Carrie’s roommates a Truman Show-esque perspective? Well, we originally thought about hanging curtains but thought that something a bit flatter and less billowy for at least part of the 10′ expanse of glass might make Carrie feel less like she’s sleeping in a curtain warehouse. So we trolled Ikea for some interesting textures that we hoped to place over the glass from the inside for privacy and interest. Wrapping paper? Nope, too thin. Wallpaper? Didn’t see any. Grasscloth window panels? Jackpot. It was just like purchasing a huge roll of grasscloth wallpaper for only $15 a roll (we used two of them to get ‘er done) and we simply cut them to size and used clear heavy-duty packing tape to seam them together for a clean look. We LOVED the outcome- and it was so easy. Here’s the play by play as demonstrated by my other half:

Step 1: Measure the glass and cut the grasscloth panel to fit either horizontally or vertically (we went horizontal because our sliders were a bit too wide to do vertical):

Step 2: Use clear packaging tape to very smoothly tape the exterior edges of each panel to the metal glass door surround. Go slow and steady for the cleanest effect possible.

That’s it. And after a good amount of measuring, taping, stepping back to admire, repeat- you’ll have an awesome privacy screen built right into your sliding doors! Of course heavy duty clear tape is the key (this isn’t a job for scotch tape!) and hanging the grasscloth curtain panels the way they were intended to be used (from the ceiling or wall- both of which weren’t options for us) would also yield something fabulous and textured for your space- so you definitely don’t have to DIY everything if you’d rather stick to hanging the panels as they’re meant to be hung. Oh and we thought of another way to adhere the grasscloth if the tape method is too sticky (literally) for you (or if your house gets humid and warm, in which case we wonder if the tape will last for the long haul). Very strong magnets placed on either side of the glass would definitely hold the paper in place- and look pretty darn cool to boot.

Oh and you’ll notice above that we did actually add two breezy curtain panels after hanging the grasscloth for a layered effect. They felt light enough not to be too invasive ( since we couldn’t hang the wall of curtains behind the bed, we knew the room could handle a bit more softness in other places). And thankfully there were walls perpendicular to the glass sliders (unlike behind the bed) so we could hang a curtain wire from those two walls to secure them. We loved how the textured panels on the glass and the billowy striped curtains worked together in the space. Tip: curtains slide extra effortlessly on wire, so it’s always good for a doorway- and Ikea sells a great kit called the Dignitet.

So that’s the story of an angular glass sunroom, a trip to Ikea, a $200 budget, and a ceiling that could probably deflect Superman. Oh but we can’t just mention the budget without doing a little play-by-play of how we spent our allotted cash, so here’s the breakdown for all you curious home improvement enthusiasts (items not on list below were existing last-apartment remnants, which really helped us stretch our dough):

Don’t you guys love those green hanging pendants? They have to be one of our favorite details in the room. And although it’s still a small space (9 x 11′ to be exact)- it feels so cozy and inviting. Hooray for Ikea and apartment makeovers! So what about you guys? Anyone itching to snag some of the goodies that we reached for while we shopped til we dropped? Any soon-to be-head-board-making individuals out there who are ready for the Lack table challenge that we detailed above? Anyone else with wall to wall glass and impenetrable ceilings who have curtain woes of their own? Let’s commiserate.

Comments

A few other posters mentioned the curtain hanging ideas I had (industrial velcro, hanging them from magnets or 3M hooks). I wonder also, could you tie them to the individual vertical blinds so they open together – similar to Donita’s idea- but without the velvco. I’d worry that on the plastic or metal blinds, the sticky side of the velcro would leave a residue that would be a pain to remove in the future. I’ve seen curtains with tie tops (instead of tab tops) but you could also easily use fuseable wed to attach ribbons or strips of fabric to transform regular pocket top panels for this idea.

Also, it’s a little hard to tell from the photos – could you hang a wire from one wall to the other to suspend the curtains? This may not work as you mentioned that the room is an awkward shape, the curtains might intrude too far into the room…

As much as I like the idea of covering the rest of the ugly blinds, the room looks AWESOME and you barely notice them now that it’s so wonderfully styled. You guys did a great job, again! Thank you for all your great inspriations!

We have vertical blinds in our kitchen that DH loves and I hate. Not only do they look terrible, but six or seven of them are missing from one end and the remaining ones have little chunks taken out of them. I think the previous owners had a very enthusiastic dog. I made a curtain the length of the blinds and pleated with simple knife pleats, each pleat as wide as the blind slats. They kind of “encase” the slats. I reinforced the top, cut tiny “buttonholes” in each pleat, and hung it from the clips over the vertical blind slats. The pleats give the curtain the extra fullness needed so the blinds can be opened or closed, so we don’t lose any of the functionality of the blinds (the part my husband loves) but we look at a pretty drape instead.

Can you believe I’ve spent the last two hours trawling internet shopping sites for new headboards (horrible, out of stock, horrible, cheap, out of stock) with no luck. And there in my house I have sitting exactly three spare birch lack tables, currently working as dumping sites for the children’s toys!

Thank you so much for the great idea, would you like a photo when it’s done? It’s going to look perfect with the new oyster, pearl and pink satin cushions I snagged this morning.

Hi youngsters! I am amazed at what y’all did with only Ikea stuff! Whenever I go to Ikea, I get overwhelmed and end up leaving with only a plant and a doormat.

Hearing about you hang those pendants with the 3M hooks is such a great idea- I’ve been wanting to hang a pendant over my 2 person “dining room” table (it’s stuffed in a small part of my kitchen, which is part of my living room- open floorplan). I live in a rental though, so I didn’t want to get into drilling the ceilings.

My question: Are the Ikea pendants powered by some kind of cord kit? If so, what is your best idea to hide the cord on its snake to an outlet?

We used two 3M hooks on each pendant to swag the light kit that came with each lamp shade. One hook is placed above the center of the pendant and another hook is stuck on the ceiling about two feet away right near where the ceiling meets the wall. This second hook allows you to swag the cord and keep it neatly running down the wall in a clean line. It’s always great to obscure the cords with curtains like we did in Carrie’s room, but even painting the cord to match the wall is a great way to help it blend in. Hope it helps!

That’s the exact cable system we purchased but we couldn’t drill into the super hard ceiling to use it! It did come in handy for hanging the curtains in front of the sliding doors though. The wire makes the curtains move so smoothly in the doorway. Hope it helps!

I used to live in that apartment building. I know exactly where it is in NoVA. We used that room as a small music room (we had a small yamaha keyboard). I know there are a ton of other young professionals living there that use that space as a third bedroom. They will be lucky if they come across your blog. This is gorgeous!!! I can’t wait to share it with my husband (it was our first place together).

So, I know you said you couldn’t paint, but do they make white magnetic paint? If not, maybe you could paint the black,a dn then cover it with white again, so it doesn’t look painted…

Anyway, I was jsut thinking if you used magnetic paint or something magnetic that would easily apply to that superman cieling, then you could just buy those little magnet hooks and put them along the ceiling, and then hang the curtains on them, cutting the curtains long enough that you’re able to tie them to the side when you want to open the blinds. Does that paint a good mental picture for you? It’s the best I could come up with, but it just might work! I’m kind’ve curious to see if it does, actually.

For the other windows, what about attaching the material to bamboo poles and letting them drape across the openings? The poles would lean against the window wall and also be a wood element in the room. They could also be pushed up against the ceiling using the tension of the pole itself.

OR

Build basic wooden frames from 2 x 4 lumber that are rectangles standing/leaning in front of the windows. Painted white they would blend in. Hang the drapes from them with something like the Kvartal rail or use those wire kits you already have. Shim the frames against the concrete ceiling or floor for a tight fit and the blinds would have room to still open/close. You could even have a front piece on the top of the frames to hide any hardware.

Do you guys have stock we can buy? Because, seriously, you are so ridiculously talented. WHO looks at Ikea side tables and thinks to themselves, “You know, I bet we could make a rockin’ headboard with those”?

The industrial sticky velcro works great in adhering the curtains to the track holding the blinds. That’s how we solved the problem last year when my daughter moved into her dormitory. When she moved out, “Goo-Gone” removed the remaining adhesive like a charm. Thanks for the great ideas… the headboard rocks!! I heart Ikea!

I also think the velcro on the tracks is the perfect idea. Good Luck! This room is A M A Z I N G!!!! You guys rock. So inspiring you two are. Love everything, but I really loved the headboard. Would have never thought of that. And I love IKEA as well. Just went shopping the other day and bought a bunch of white decor pieces for my Family Room. Gotta love white. ;-)

Not sure what type of tracks there are for the vertical blinds, but it looks to be a metal piece. If so, you can get magnetic curtain rods. I have one for my front door. I also have those awful vertical blinds in my dining room and they are scheduled to come down soon, but ususaly those are installed with metal brackets, another way to possibly adhere magnetic rods. Hope that helps.

Hmmmm… Is that building in Ballston? I think I might know that building. Anyway, a friend of mine lives in that or a similar building. She bought the same Ikea hardware to hang her curtains and ended up with the same problem- bullet-proof ceilings. Probably not the most elegant soultion, but she wound up using Gorilla Glue to hang the cable system (basically installed them the same way as if they were screwed in, just using glue in place of screws). A good hard yank, we found out the hard way, will take them down (drywall plaster and all) when it’s time to move. Of course you would have to patch and paint the ceiling but I imagine it wouldn’t require much more patching and painting than if you screwed them in. Oh, and like everyone else, I love your blog :)

awesome! i agree the glowing green lamps totally make the room and i love the grass cloth!!! i bet the roomies are jealous!

how does ikeas walnut finish look in person???

i’m thinking of getting 2 lack tables and putting the table top on the bottom for a west elm style parsons cube table on the cheap!!! that is if the walnut finish is nice… i’ve been wondering when they would come out with walnut- or anything in between the light veneer and the dak black/brown for their lack and expedit stuff!

It looks great! Lots of veining and a nice warm tone. Of course it looks a bit more polished than a rustic hunk of walnut, but it’s a total steal for the price. Hope it helps! Love the idea of a West-Elm parson’s look using a second tabletop on the bottom. Send pics!

I can’t believe the transformation! (Or the price!)
And, yet again, you saved me from having to do any thinking of my own. I have been wondering how to make a cheap modern looking headboard for my son’s full size bed, the Lack tables come in all sorts of colors so are just perfect!

i agree with the other person above regarding METAL Curtain Rods – i just saw them in KMART last week. They come in different sizes. especially if the curtains are light and not very heavy. if you are worried about the rods not staying up i would use METAL WIRE also to wrap around the curtain rods at the ends to keep them on the top part of the vertical blinds.

as for drilling into the ceiling – you would need a hammer drill and concrete screws and anchors and it would leave big holes – in order to drill into the cement… not worth them losing their deposit on that.

just thought of something else – you could use a combination of s hooks and metal wire to attach curtain rods – wire the s hooks to the top bar of the vertical blinds and then hang the rods from the s hooks. she would not be able to open and close the vertical blinds as in move them from right to left but could open and close them (ie sideways) to let the light in.

i love the idea of building wood frames to place in front of the window but that is a lot of measuring to make sure they are the right height etc. not to say the cost of all that wood.

Great transformation of a totally weird space. Reminds me of a room I had in college. A sunroom had been made into a bedroom, even the closet had floor to ceiling windows!
On a totally different note, here is a challenge for you….write an entire post with out your favorite word…”snagged”! I double dog dare ya! :-)

We have one Superman-deflecting wall in our condo – the wall that butts up against the unit next door. We think it’s made of brick or solid plaster to act as a firewall. I was trying to hang a mirror in our dining room on that wall and the nails just kept bending. I was like “I know how to hammer a nail, why does this keep happening?” It was like something out of a bad movie. We ended up hanging the mirror with the very same 3M hooks you guys used. A word of warning though – we just got back from a weekend at my parents’ house and it was very hot in the condo all weekend and two of the three hooks had come right off the wall. Good thing the third held or we’d still be cleaning up broken glass!

How about using a line of Velcro across the top panel of the vertical blind track and hang fabric drapes from them? Granted you wouldn’t be able to slide the curtains back and forth but you could put a hook to the side of them (like the ones you used to hang the lights up) I’d say a couple of feet down from the ceiling and create a hold-back with rope so you could at least drape the curtains across if you wanted to open the vertical blinds. It is a rudimentary way to cover the blinds but at least it would be something to hide them.

I swear, you guys are my decor on a dime heroes! I can’t believe you transformed the room this way for $200! And the after is absolutely breathtaking! Ok…I’m done yelling now. I am completely floored by the difference. You guys have made me even more proud to read your blog :)